forgiveness

In this short passage of Scripture, we get to look at sin from all four sides. There is sin as the devil sees it, a tool for death and destruction. There is sin from the human viewpoint as seen by the accusers. There is sin from the viewpoint of the one who committed the sin. Then there is sin from the viewpoint of Jesus, a wrong that demands forgiveness. The accusers had caught this woman in the very act of adultery, how this happened we are not told and we don’t need to know. Under the law, the woman was guilty and deserving of death. Jesus had come to change all of that. He was bringing a new way of looking at and treating the guilty party. From the reaction of the accusers when Jesus questioned them, we know that, at some point, all of them had transgressed the law. In Jesus’s way of thinking, regardless of what they had done, they were as worthy of death as the woman was. Under the law, there was big sin and little sin. Under grace, there is just sin, liars are lumped right in there with murderers. We may often find ourselves in the position of the accusers or in position of the woman who committed the sin. Jesus was using this situation to teach a two-fold lesson. First, He was teaching them the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. If we were caught in this situation, would we want others to show us mercy? Then we must show mercy. The second and most important lesson is that sin is forgivable and that is the road we should choose.To receive God’s forgiveness, we are required to forgive others of their sins.

6 We are all infected and impure with sin.When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. — Isaiah 64:6, 7 NLT

We were born in sin into a sinful world and as long as we live in this flesh, we will be affected by sin. In the flesh, we can do good deeds, but those good deeds will not get us into heaven. We can wash and clean the exterior but only the righteousness of Jesus Christ can cleanse the inside. Doing good deeds without Godly direction can be compared to painting a wooden house without repairing the rotten areas. It looks good to the world but soon the house will fall. When we look at our nation, there are still a lot of good things that we can observe but there are fewer and fewer God things. We have been blessed abundantly for so long that we have become comfortable and complacent in who we are. To worship means to honor and to honor requires obedience. When we aren’t obedient to God, we are putting ourselves in His place and trying to do His job. When we put other things above God and his commands, He cannot be Lord of our lives. Our God is a jealous God, He will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all. He has not and will not change. He does not negotiate nor bargain with us. But when we come to the end of the rope, if we reach out for His hand, He is always there to take our hand and carry us to safety. Let us examine our positions and agree with God. When we do, we will fall on our faces and plead for His forgiveness and mercy.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. — Isaiah 43:25 NLT

God forgives us of our sins and chooses not to remember them or hold them against us. No where in the Bible are we instructed to “forgive and forget”. Like many sayings attributed to the Bible, this one is not in there. While it is a beautiful expression and idea, I am not sure that humans are capable of forgetting those transgressions, either the ones we have committed against God or those that have been committed against us. While we may not be capable of forgetting, we are charged over and over with the responsibility of forgiving. That we can do, because it is an act of the will, it is a decision that we make. God has certainly told us that His forgiveness of our sins requires us to forgive others

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. — Eph. 4:32​

There are many other verses emphasizing the fact that we must forgive. These verses also show us how our relationship with the Father is affected by a lack of forgiveness. (Matt. 6:15) They also show us how a lack of forgiveness causes us to become bitter (Hebrews 12) and how un-forgiveness will cause us to lose our reward (2 John).The “forgetting” part means that we should be so sure and certain about our decision to forgive that the transgression no longer affects our relationship with the person committing the act. It is no longer a part of any discussion we have or any decision that we make. It means that just as God has justified our standing with Him, we do the same for the transgressor. It is as if we had “forgotten” or as if that incident had never happened. Notice in the passage from Isaiah that God said He would forgive them for His sake which indicates there are some good things that come to those who do the forgiving as well as to those who are forgiven. So, if for no other reason, we need to forgive for our own sake.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”— Mark 16:7 N​KJV

Peter had boasted to Jesus that he would never deny Him. He was adamant that he would stand by Jesus no matter the situation or the cost.

35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”And all the other disciples said the same. — Matt. 26:35 NIV (Emphasis mine)

We sometimes overlook the fact that they all ran away that night in the garden. Where the others went, we aren’t told, but John was with Jesus and Peter followed at a distance. We. like Peter, often think that we are stronger in our faith than we really are. If we tell Jesus we will do this or that, He will most often give us the opportunity to do exactly that. And, if we try to accomplish whatever “that” is in our own power, we, too, will fail. Peter denied Christ with his actions and his words. Most of the time, we deny Chirst with our inaction and lack of words. Whether we deny Him passively or actively, it is still denial. When I fail to speak to someone about their eternal destiny when the Holy Spirit urges me to do so, I have denied Jesus. And when the Spirit brings conviction, my heart is broken and I repent with remorse and bitter tears. But the conviction is not punishment or isolation from God, it is discipline and an invitation to come back to God. When those times come that I fail to speak out and I feel like Peter must have felt that night, I read this verse and put my name there instead of Peter’s. I make it personal and read it ; “go tell His people –and Wally– that He is still going before us and we will see Him”. Then I know that I am forgiven and Jesus wants to hold me and comfort me. My tears of remorse become tears of joy! My sadness becomes praise to the One who will never exclude me. Such wonderful, glorious, amazing grace and love encourages me to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”. I am still on the team, Jesus has chosen me and I want to shout “Me, too!” He has chosen “Me, too”!

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. — Eccel. 7:20 NIV

We all fall, but we don’t stay fallen. I am encouraged by Paul whose claim to be the “chief of sinners” could be contested by some of us in today’s society. He clearly knew who he was, Whose he was and where he was on his journey. He lets us know that he is not there yet, but he is on his way and he is determined to arrive there.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.— Phil. 3:12-14 NIV

”Forgetting what is behind” is the example Paul sets for us. That is a hard thing for humans to do. But, if we don’t practice that, then satan will use those memories of our failures to condemn us and make us feel unworthy to approach God and ask for His forgiveness. If we allow this to continue, we will soon become beaten down with guilt. Condemnation is from the devil, conviction is from the Holy Spirit. Rebuke satan and his condemnation. Accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit and ask for His forgiveness. Accept that forgiveness and “press on toward the goal to win the prize”.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:8-10 NIV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

​God gave the Old Testament law to the children of Israel to show them that it was impossible for a mere human to live a life free of sin. No one was able to live a life without sin, so God, in His mercy established rituals and procedures for them to keep. As long as they stayed obedient to these rituals, they were not punished for their sins. Mercy is the lack of or a lesser punishment than our sins deserve(d). Just as the people back then received mercy, we can and do receive mercy without receiving salvation. It is God’s mercy that allows us to go on living, even when we choose a lifestyle of sin. We live under the law or covenant of grace. This does not mean that we don’t sin, it just means that we have a way of being forgiven without the rituals. Grace is God choosing to bless us even though we don’t deserve it. It is our faith in His grace that saves us. When we feel that someone has wronged us in any way, we must show them mercy because of the mercy that God has shown us. We must temper our judgment with mercy, realizing that we have received so much more than mercy from Jesus Christ. We should also show them grace, in the sense that it means showing them affection and kindness even though they are not worthy of it. Neither were/are we worthy of God’s mercy and grace, yet He went so far as to die for us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:6-8 NIV

This is why we must show mercy, grace and forgiveness to those around us. We can and must forgive them of their sinful acts toward us. But only God can forgive us for all of our sins. Our mercy and grace is limited to what is done to us. God’s mercy and grace is unlimited. Only His grace can restore our relationship with God the Father. We must ask for His forgiveness believing that by grace through faith we have been saved, are being saved and will be completely saved.

24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.25 Therefore he is able to save completely[ those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.– Hebrews 7:24, 25 NIV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

The characteristics that Paul talks about here are totally contrary to the flesh. Yet, these are the goals that we should be striving toward in our daily walk with Jesus. All of us have certain areas in which God has gifted us and the change from natural to spiritual in these areas are easier for us than for others. The flesh is stubborn and wants to hold onto the old ways. Nevertheless, we must strive every day to improve in all of the areas. Being humble is hard for the flesh. When we do good deeds, we want to be recognized and praised for those good deeds. But, we must remember that we are doing these things for Jesus and laying up our rewards in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. — Matt. 6:2-4

Probably the toughest of all of these things is to learn to truly forgive. We say that we have forgiven those who have hurt us, but how do we treat that person after we have said those words. Does remembering the incident still cause you to act differently toward that person? Forgiveness is not a pardon for the person’s wrong, It is not saying that what they did is okay. It is saying that we all make mistakes and we all need forgiveness at times, so we should forgive others because of the forgiveness we have experienced in our lives, particularly, the forgiveness of our sins by Jesus. We need to forgive for our own benefit and not allow a root of bitterness to grow in our hearts that satan can use to destroy relationships with others and eventually destroy us.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. — Ephesians 4:31

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous